Navigating the blueprints of secure coding: A construction analogy
Did you know that 67% of developers admit to shipping code with vulnerabilities? Imagine a team of construction workers tasked with building a house. They have all the materials and tools they need, but they are struggling to follow the blueprints and building codes. As a result, they are making mistakes and the house is not being built to code.
This analogy can be used to illustrate the challenges that developers face when trying to practice secure coding. Just as construction workers need to follow blueprints and building codes to ensure that their houses are safe, developers need to follow secure coding practices to ensure that their software applications are secure.
There are a number of reasons why secure coding can be challenging. These include:
- A lack of awareness of secure coding practices. 86% of developers state they find it challenging to practice secure coding.
- A lack of time and resources. 24% of respondents in our survey stated ‘not enough time’ is the biggest impediment to integrating secure code.
- The complexity of secure coding. 63% of developers rate writing secure code that is free from vulnerabilities to be difficult.
- Over reliance upon tools. 57% of application security teams are utilizing six or more tools to discover vulnerabilities during the DevSecOps lifecycle. (GitLab, 2023)
However, despite the challenges, secure coding is essential. By following secure coding practices, developers can help to protect their applications from vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers. Just as a well-built house is less likely to collapse, a well-coded application is less likely to be hacked.
Here are a few tips for developers who want to improve their secure coding practices:
- Get training and education on secure coding. There are a number of resources available to help developers learn about secure coding practices.
- Use static analysis tools to identify vulnerabilities in code. Static analysis tools can help to identify vulnerabilities in code that may be difficult to find manually.
- Write code that is easy to review and understand. Code that is easy to review and understand is more likely to be secure code.
- Test code thoroughly. Testing code can help to identify and fix vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
Interested in learning more? Unlock the secrets to developing an agile secure coding strategy with our secure code learning blueprint.
By following secure coding practices, developers can help to protect their applications from vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers. Just as a well-built house is less likely to collapse, a well-coded application is less likely to be hacked.
Secure Code Warrior is here for your organization to help you secure code across the entire software development lifecycle and create a culture in which cybersecurity is top of mind. Whether you’re an AppSec Manager, Developer, CISO, or anyone involved in security, we can help your organization reduce risks associated with insecure code.
Book a demo
Dave Karp is the VP of Solution Engineering and Technical Alliances at Secure Code Warrior.
Did you know that 67% of developers admit to shipping code with vulnerabilities? Imagine a team of construction workers tasked with building a house. They have all the materials and tools they need, but they are struggling to follow the blueprints and building codes. As a result, they are making mistakes and the house is not being built to code.
This analogy can be used to illustrate the challenges that developers face when trying to practice secure coding. Just as construction workers need to follow blueprints and building codes to ensure that their houses are safe, developers need to follow secure coding practices to ensure that their software applications are secure.
There are a number of reasons why secure coding can be challenging. These include:
- A lack of awareness of secure coding practices. 86% of developers state they find it challenging to practice secure coding.
- A lack of time and resources. 24% of respondents in our survey stated ‘not enough time’ is the biggest impediment to integrating secure code.
- The complexity of secure coding. 63% of developers rate writing secure code that is free from vulnerabilities to be difficult.
- Over reliance upon tools. 57% of application security teams are utilizing six or more tools to discover vulnerabilities during the DevSecOps lifecycle. (GitLab, 2023)
However, despite the challenges, secure coding is essential. By following secure coding practices, developers can help to protect their applications from vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers. Just as a well-built house is less likely to collapse, a well-coded application is less likely to be hacked.
Here are a few tips for developers who want to improve their secure coding practices:
- Get training and education on secure coding. There are a number of resources available to help developers learn about secure coding practices.
- Use static analysis tools to identify vulnerabilities in code. Static analysis tools can help to identify vulnerabilities in code that may be difficult to find manually.
- Write code that is easy to review and understand. Code that is easy to review and understand is more likely to be secure code.
- Test code thoroughly. Testing code can help to identify and fix vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
Interested in learning more? Unlock the secrets to developing an agile secure coding strategy with our secure code learning blueprint.
Did you know that 67% of developers admit to shipping code with vulnerabilities? Imagine a team of construction workers tasked with building a house. They have all the materials and tools they need, but they are struggling to follow the blueprints and building codes. As a result, they are making mistakes and the house is not being built to code.
This analogy can be used to illustrate the challenges that developers face when trying to practice secure coding. Just as construction workers need to follow blueprints and building codes to ensure that their houses are safe, developers need to follow secure coding practices to ensure that their software applications are secure.
There are a number of reasons why secure coding can be challenging. These include:
- A lack of awareness of secure coding practices. 86% of developers state they find it challenging to practice secure coding.
- A lack of time and resources. 24% of respondents in our survey stated ‘not enough time’ is the biggest impediment to integrating secure code.
- The complexity of secure coding. 63% of developers rate writing secure code that is free from vulnerabilities to be difficult.
- Over reliance upon tools. 57% of application security teams are utilizing six or more tools to discover vulnerabilities during the DevSecOps lifecycle. (GitLab, 2023)
However, despite the challenges, secure coding is essential. By following secure coding practices, developers can help to protect their applications from vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers. Just as a well-built house is less likely to collapse, a well-coded application is less likely to be hacked.
Here are a few tips for developers who want to improve their secure coding practices:
- Get training and education on secure coding. There are a number of resources available to help developers learn about secure coding practices.
- Use static analysis tools to identify vulnerabilities in code. Static analysis tools can help to identify vulnerabilities in code that may be difficult to find manually.
- Write code that is easy to review and understand. Code that is easy to review and understand is more likely to be secure code.
- Test code thoroughly. Testing code can help to identify and fix vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
Interested in learning more? Unlock the secrets to developing an agile secure coding strategy with our secure code learning blueprint.
Click on the link below and download the PDF of this resource.
Secure Code Warrior is here for your organization to help you secure code across the entire software development lifecycle and create a culture in which cybersecurity is top of mind. Whether you’re an AppSec Manager, Developer, CISO, or anyone involved in security, we can help your organization reduce risks associated with insecure code.
View reportBook a demo
Dave Karp is the VP of Solution Engineering and Technical Alliances at Secure Code Warrior.
Did you know that 67% of developers admit to shipping code with vulnerabilities? Imagine a team of construction workers tasked with building a house. They have all the materials and tools they need, but they are struggling to follow the blueprints and building codes. As a result, they are making mistakes and the house is not being built to code.
This analogy can be used to illustrate the challenges that developers face when trying to practice secure coding. Just as construction workers need to follow blueprints and building codes to ensure that their houses are safe, developers need to follow secure coding practices to ensure that their software applications are secure.
There are a number of reasons why secure coding can be challenging. These include:
- A lack of awareness of secure coding practices. 86% of developers state they find it challenging to practice secure coding.
- A lack of time and resources. 24% of respondents in our survey stated ‘not enough time’ is the biggest impediment to integrating secure code.
- The complexity of secure coding. 63% of developers rate writing secure code that is free from vulnerabilities to be difficult.
- Over reliance upon tools. 57% of application security teams are utilizing six or more tools to discover vulnerabilities during the DevSecOps lifecycle. (GitLab, 2023)
However, despite the challenges, secure coding is essential. By following secure coding practices, developers can help to protect their applications from vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers. Just as a well-built house is less likely to collapse, a well-coded application is less likely to be hacked.
Here are a few tips for developers who want to improve their secure coding practices:
- Get training and education on secure coding. There are a number of resources available to help developers learn about secure coding practices.
- Use static analysis tools to identify vulnerabilities in code. Static analysis tools can help to identify vulnerabilities in code that may be difficult to find manually.
- Write code that is easy to review and understand. Code that is easy to review and understand is more likely to be secure code.
- Test code thoroughly. Testing code can help to identify and fix vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
Interested in learning more? Unlock the secrets to developing an agile secure coding strategy with our secure code learning blueprint.
Table of contents
Secure Code Warrior is here for your organization to help you secure code across the entire software development lifecycle and create a culture in which cybersecurity is top of mind. Whether you’re an AppSec Manager, Developer, CISO, or anyone involved in security, we can help your organization reduce risks associated with insecure code.
Book a demoDownloadResources to get you started
Professional Services - Accelerate with expertise
Secure Code Warrior’s Program Strategy Services (PSS) team helps you build, enhance, and optimize your secure coding program. Whether you're starting fresh or refining your approach, our experts provide tailored guidance.
Secure code training topics & content
Our industry-leading content is always evolving to fit the ever changing software development landscape with your role in mind. Topics covering everything from AI to XQuery Injection, offered for a variety of roles from Architects and Engineers to Product Managers and QA. Get a sneak peak of what our content catalog has to offer by topic and role.
Quests: Industry leading learning to keep developers ahead of the game mitigating risk.
Quests is a learning platform that helps developers mitigate software security risks by enhancing their secure coding skills. With curated learning paths, hands-on challenges, and interactive activities, it empowers developers to identify and prevent vulnerabilities.
Resources to get you started
The Decade of the Defenders: Secure Code Warrior Turns Ten
Secure Code Warrior's founding team has stayed together, steering the ship through every lesson, triumph, and setback for an entire decade. We’re scaling up and ready to face our next chapter, SCW 2.0, as the leaders in developer risk management.
10 Key Predictions: Secure Code Warrior on AI & Secure-by-Design’s Influence in 2025
Organizations are facing tough decisions on AI usage to support long-term productivity, sustainability, and security ROI. It’s become clear to us over the last few years that AI will never fully replace the role of the developer. From AI + developer partnerships to the increasing pressures (and confusion) around Secure-by-Design expectations, let’s take a closer look at what we can expect over the next year.
Developer-driven coding.
Securely.
Contact us today and make software security an intrinsic part of your development process.
